ICC Women’s World T20 2018: Who will win the India women vs New Zealand Women World T20 match?

The Indian women's cricket team kicks off their ICC Women's World T20 campaign against New Zealand women at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Friday, November 9. The Women in Blue haven't really made an impact in the shorter format of the game. Their best performance came in the first two editions way back in 2009 and 2010 when they reached the semi-finals. But that was ages ago. India has since then crashed out in the Group stage itself, including the last edition which was played at home. This year though, the Team India come to West Indies in hopes of seriously upsetting the favourites. A new-look young side led by Harmanpreet Kaur has managed to turn things around in the last year and is currently brimming with confidence going into West Indies. Let's take a look at how the two teams will line-up before we make our match predictions for India women vs New Zealand women World T20 opener:

India women vs New Zealand women match preview

India impressed everyone during their run to the final of the ICC Women's World Cup 2017 in England. Although they lost the final to the hosts, they were a force to reckon with and had announced themselves on the world stage. But the momentum that the Indian team got in the World Cup soon died down as consecutive series losses exposed the lack of squad depth. However, with Ramesh Powar appointed as the coach and the addition of promising youngsters in the squad, India are looking to have another shot at glory -- this time in West Indies.

New Zealand, on the other hand, were runners-up in Women's World T20 2009 and 2010 but hasn't had the same impact ever since. A team packed with some of the best T20 spinners in international Women's cricket, New Zealand have changed things up in hope of some momentum. Led by Amy Satterthwaite who took over the captain's armband from the World No. 1 T20I batswoman Suzie Bates, New Zealand has six quality spinner among their ranks. It will be interesting to see if the Kiwis can be cohesive as a unit in the face of a difficult test such as going head to head with India in the opener.

Predicted playing 11 for India women vs New Zealand women: Team News

With an average of just 24, India's team is young and is hoping to conquer the world during the ICC Women's World T20 in the West Indies. India has a strong batting unit and will be dependent on their batswomen to deliver. Players like Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Mithali Raj and Jemimah Rodrigues make up an impressive batting line-up and will look to shine in the Caribbeans. While the batting looks pretty much sorted, India's bowling is heavily dependent on its spinners. Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Pooja Vatsrakar form the cornerstone of India's bowling with pacer Arundhati Reddy giving them the much-needed firepower.

New Zealand, on the other hand, have the World's best batswoman in T20 cricket in the squad. Suzie Bates, who was the captain, stepped aside in order to focus solely on her batting and the World T20 will show how much it has helped the squad. New Zealand otherwise are a spin-heavy side which will look to strangle the opposition. But they also run the risk of leaking runs in the shortest format of the game. Overall it makes for a very interesting watch. Let's now take a look at the match predictions for the India women vs New Zealand women World T20 match:

Both India and New Zealand are a different side from what the fans are used to. While the experienced players like Jhulan Goswami have stepped aside for the young brigade for India, New Zealand have stuck on with the experience in the team and will be looking to capitalise on it. India are outside favourites for the tournament and are also favourites for the opener. But it could go either way.

How to watch the India women vs New Zealand women live?

The ICC Women's World T20 2018 tournament will be telecast live on the Star Sports network. If you want to watch it online, log on to Hotstar Premium. To get a Hotstar premium subscription, you will have to register and pay a fee of INR199 for a month. DD National will also telecast all the India matches at the ICC Women's World T20.